Jon’s In5anity

Today I’d like to discuss la ferretería.  For those of you who don’t speak spanish thats the hardware store.  They are amazing little gems here in Costa Rica.  Imagine a car parts store in the states.  you walk up to the counter and order some parts and they get them for you.  well the hardware stores are the same here.  you walk in and at the good stores someone asks to help right away.  In others you stand around for awhile before anybody acknowledges you.  At my current favorite they are helpful.  My broken spanish and hand signals can get me a long way luckily I travle with my friend and boss Patrick.  He speaks spanish so he tells them what we need.  It is a slow process sometimes.  You order an electric box and they bring 5 up for you to choose from.  You order a 1/2″ screw they bring up several choices.  It is pretty cool really.  I have enjoyed my time in la ferretería we have been to probably 8 at least.  Some specialize in plumbing others electrical others are general.  Some are large and others small.  It’s an adventure everytime I tell Patrick i need another piece or part for the solar systems.

After a long day of working and spending time at la ferretería I like to drink a bamboo.  This is an amazing invention we do not have in the states.  It’s a rum and coke in a can.  Genius.  Pure Genius.  Not only that but it’s good.  Bamboo is by far my favorite canned beverage.

In solar news I hooked up the system on the barn and got the well pump running.  I also have the new pump setup and the panels mounted.  2 80w sharp panels looks pretty nice pole mounted on the hill.  Latitude is 13 degrees here so panels are getting mounted pretty flat.  I will begin mounting the equipment for the large system today and getting a parts list together for la ferretería.  Also yesterday the guys who work at the farm there were 8 yesterday moved a huge steel frame that the old solar system was mounted on and moved it to the other side of the farm and are rebuilding it and remounting the solar to be used on the new house system.  It’s hard to describe but this structure was 2″ steel tubing approximately 15′ x 10′ and heavy.  In the states we would have used machinery etc.  Here they just made it happen.  They did use the truck to haul it up the hill and around to it’s new location but they removed it from the roof of a shipping container and moved it off the roof.  It was wild and of course my camera was dead.

Yesterday our packages didn’t arrive here to the house until late so we waited and then took off for Nicoya.  Nicoya is the closest large town.  We actually first went on a wild goose chase trying to find a guy in some town who sold cocanuts.  But after a long journey including driving through a small lake which was covering the road we made it to some house and they people had left.  So we gave up and headed to Nicoya.

We got many supplies in nicoya.  The highlights were the hardware/electrical store and the market.  At the hardware store i got to use hand signals and broken spanish to communicate what i needed.  The two guys helping us were cool and it was a great time.  I felt like it was some of the best communication i have had with the locals.  I enjoyed it and we got many things for the pump systems.

The market was great as well.  I drank some fresh cocanut milk as well as fresh pressed sugar cane juice.  I also bought some avocados.  Then we bought like 14 huge mangos for like $3.  Amazing.  We also bought 25 plantain trees to plant at the farm and gathered 50 pineapple tops to root and plant.

Then the rain came.  It’s like clockwork right now it rains everyday about 4 in the afternoon.  Like serious rain.  But it doesn’t usualluy last.  It is the beginning of the rainy season so the rains are coming.  It is great because it cools it off and greens everything up.

Today we will head up to the farm so I can get some things accomplished.  I will be putting up some panels and working on the pumps.

I love mangos.  The mangos are just finishing here but there are still many to eat.  Yesterday I ate 4 through out the day.  Awesome!!  On the smal dirt road up to the farm we stop and gather a couple mangos at the good trees which are roadside.  Instead of road side fruit stands there are road side fruit trees.  Today I seek avocado.

Yesterday I worked on the first of the three solar projects we are doing.  It is a well pump system which is not functioning correctly.  The battery bank is possibly shot.  So we hauled it to a shop to have a guy charge the batteries.  The charge controlller isn’t coming on but it says it needs at least 9 volts from the batteries to function so I think the issue is the batteries.  We also have a grounding problem which we will fix.  The issue is the system isn’t grounded.  The  previous installer ran a ground to the pump but not to the midnight solar box where everything else grounds to.

Today we should recieve a shipment from the states that has taken about 3 months to get here.  It is a water pumping system as well but this one moves water from the main tank to a secondary tank.  The well pump fills a main tank and then the new pump will distribute wate to the next tank.

It will be a basic direct drive system which means no batteries.  This will be a simple system to put together.

With the truck filled up with an entire solar PV system we crawled up the hill.  8 batteries, Inverter, Charge Controller, Panels, a metal roof, and misc other pieces of system all weighing in at over 2000lbs.  We are riding around in a toyota hilux extended cab 2.8l diesel truck.  It is bad ass I want to buy one and drive it home.  Fully loaded we crawled the hills to the finca.

There are mango trees along the road.  And many other trees.  Patrick has told me the names of many I cannot recall right now.  This one has orage bloom covering it beautiful.  The forest is thick here and there is some virgin rainforest on the land.

It is primitive here right now.  A small open air thatched roof cabana was the first shelter they built.  Now they are finishing a tent platform which I will stay in a few nights this week.  And a large thatch roofed shelter has been built.  This one will be the community center and be attached to patricks home which is being built right now.  The block walls went up yesterday where I will install the new PV system.  They rushed to get it done so I can get to work.

I had my first monkey siting yesterday.  Saw a whole family of howler monkeys.  Probably 12 monkeys many were young baby monkeys.  They are amazing creatures.  I watched them hang out on the skinny branches and cruise around.  Got a few pictures.

The land is huge.  It has a river that runs one of it’s borders and apparently many waterfalls and swimming holes.  I love it already.  Now I need to find $110,000 to buy one of the plots in the community.  There will be 25 homes in the end.  And these are on approximately 10% of the land and the rest has been put into a land trust of sorts.

I am having a blast and excited for today. Love Love Love

Yesterday was a long day.  We cruised around the city of San Jose all day.  We were picking up the solar equipment from 3 different import places none of which were easy to find.  Needless to say I was lost but Patrick sorta knew where he was going.

We needed to pass some time before some of the items cleared customs so we went to the famous Hotel Del Rey.  It is a 104 room casino, bar, and the largest whorehouse in San Jose.  Prostitution is legal.  I was propisitioned by my first prostitute.  She tried to convince me I needed a massage before we left but I told her we had business to do and no time for pleasure.  Haha what a funny place.

We then made the 6 hr drive home to the beach.  I am currently in a place just south of Nicoya.  Today we will go to the farm to investigate the solar jobs and make a plan.  I can’t wait to see the farm.  200 acres of land including rainforest and waterfalls.

For the next two weeks I will be here in Costa Rica installing Solar at Finca Las Brisas.  I arrived last night after a day of traveling from N.C. to D.C. to Miami to San Jose, Costa Rica.  When I got onto the plane they handed me the standard forms for immigration and customs.  As I filled them out I realized I didn’t know the name of the town where I was going and I didn’t even have a number for Patrick Kelly who would be picking me up.  When I arrived I stood in line deciding what to say when it was my turn to enter Costa.  I decided a smile was all that would save me.  I walked up and handed the lady my passport and papers.  She scanned through them and asked where are you staying?  I said I don’t know and explained that I was to be picked up here.  She asked if I had a phone number and I said no.  All the while I was smiling.  I said I know this sounds crazy but All I know is my friend will be picking me up.  She picked up the stamp and “Kachink” stamped my passport.  I was in awesome!  Next stop baggage.

I waited for quite some time before finding my bag and the 2 boxes of solar panels.  I was happy to find them and there was minimal damage.  U.S. Homeland security had opened one of them and searched it.  They also searched my bag and left it in a disarray.  I got a cart and headed for customs.  I got to the front of the line and sent my luggage through a scanner.  The belt stopped when the box went in.  The man asked what was inside and I explained solar panels.  He said he needed to see inside.  I pulled all my luggage over to another table and opened the box.  He asked the value and I told him.  He then told me I needed to pay taxes on the items.  He said I would have to wait until tomorrow to pay.  I asked if there was a way to pay now.  He said yes unofficially if I was ok with it.  I said yes we went into an office and I realized I was about to bribe the man.  I only had $60 and he had said the taxes would be about $300.  I went to an ATM and got $200.  Went back into the office and gave him $200 thinking I had just made a deal and saved $100.  He then said I could take my boxes and go.

i got outside and told patrick what had happened and he explained that a common bribe here is $20-$40 not $200.  He explained that the man probably made about that in a month.

One mans rich is another mans poor.  To me $200 didn’t seem like that much to him it was a small fortune.  He won the lottery last night and i learned a lesson.  In the end the cost of Patrick’s solar panels just went up by $200….lesson learned.

I am sitting at a bed and breakfast overlooking San Jose.  it is cloudy today.  Apparently the rainy season is just beginning.  Today we will handle some business here before heading to the farm.

I can’t wait to get out of the city and explore.

It appears it is my turn to play the 7 things game.  Thanks Dylan!  august 6th 2008 at inkilings design is as far back as i could trace my 7 things linage.  Since then it has passed by 45 blogs accross oceans from quilters and craft artists to robot lovers to HR directors to Social networkers to Harper to Dylan to me.  The internet is strange.  So here we go with 7 things you may not know about me…

1.  Ever since I was a child I try very hard not to step on the cracks when walking down the sidewalk.  It has become a bit of a neurotic habit and has created a fast paced stride down the sidewalk to stay away from the cracks.

2.  I love the moment just after the sun disappears into the horizon at sunset.  It is a moment when time stops and the day disappears into night.

3.  I love walking places.
4.  My favorite season is autumn in full color.  When a world of psychedelic colors comes alive.  It is a time of change.

5.  I haven’t snowboarded in a couple years but it is my favorite winter sport.

6.  I have visited/lived in 8 countries

7.  I have swam with many sea turtles.  Everytime I went swimming in Hawaii they would show up.  They are so cool!!

To make this official, I now have to tag 7 people to make a Seven Things list on their blog.

Ready? These Seven People please report to the meme office and make a Seven Things entry on your blog:

1. Mike @ Proxient Unit

2. Hiromi Who is Harper’s Better half

3. Megan who grew up in the forrest of willow park

4. Alyssa who is new to the blogosphere

5. Matiss because i wonder what he is up to these days

6. Derek because i wonder if there are 7 things to do in Iowa besides grow corn

7. Inklings Designs for passing the meme so that we all get to play
The rules of this ‘game’ for those that I have tagged:

1. Link your original tagger(s), and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share seven facts about yourself in the post - some random, some weird.
3. Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names and the links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their blogs and/or Twitter

I realized the other day that i didn’t blog once last year.  Here is a quick rundown on life.  For the last year I was working with FLS Energy a solar energy company.  They were a great company to work with and I learned so much about how to build solar systems large and small.  Unfortunately I was recently let go from the job.  I am now looking for another job and contemplating going back to school for my masters.

I have been living in Black Mountain, NC.  It is a nice little mountain town.  One of the great things is easy access to great mountain biking.  I purchased a sweet cannondale bike this year and I have been enjoying it.  Can’t wait for it to warm up a bit so I can get back out there.  I also picked up a sweet cruiser bike with gorilla handlebars.  I would like to put a small engine kit from ebay on it and rock out.

As per usual I did some traveling.  I went to Minnesota to go steelhead fishing.  I was in Colorado 3 times visiting family.  One time was for an engagement party for my sister.  We had a rockin good time.  She got married in Raleigh, NC in december and she and her husband live in San Diego, CA.  i can’t wait to go visit them soon.

It has been a very transformational year and I feel great things are coming in 2009.

The other day I was in Colorado at my dad’s hardware store and one of the guys that works there asked where I was living these days. I told him for now Colorado until I leave in a week then wherever I end up next. Another one of the guys there interrupted saying you have to understand Jon is a citizen of the universe. I like it

I am living in North Carolina right now. My mom is nice enough to let me stay at her sweet house until I figure out what I’m doing and where I’m going. I plan to stay here in NC and work in the renewable energy industry.

Specifically I’d like to be making a million gallons of biodiesel or more in the next year. I am in the middle of talking with two different facilities. Both look promising but nothing is happening before the new year.

Right now I have been doing some temp. work with a great solar company here in Raleigh. I got the chance to work on a huge 105 kW PV (solar electric) system at the zoo. It is the largest in the state to date. A friend of mine in Boone told me I don’t really work I just show up for the biggest jobs. I guess this is sorta true I have worked on the two biggest systems in NC. But I do other work it’s just that I only brag about the big ones. Wouldn’t you??

Life here in the universe is good. The holidays are coming actually I think they are here. This year I’m cool with it, usually it’s Bahhh Humbug. It’s just another time (like every day) to think of friends and family and be thankful!!

Lastly I got a truck!! an 89 Ford F250 with a 7.3 International Diesel Engine. It rules it’s big and loud just like a truck should be. I think it is going to be a good work truck.

Thats all for now….next year I’m going to try and blog more the last two years have been pretty pathetic. Peace and Veggie Grease

It’s snowing in Shelburne Falls, MA. WTF. I’m trying to test out our solar system here at the house and get it running but there is no fucking sun. Whatever… the sun will come but when? I talk about global warming everyday. The globe is heating up and causing major shifts in the weather. And it’s snowing in the middle of April. WTF.

I am working for a cooperative right now. Co-op Power is a renewable energy coopperative. It’s sort of like a food coop only instead of selling food we sell renewable energy, and energy efficiency products. Our members get a discount on these products. We also have a network of installers who we refer our members to. These people install these products and services for our members. This is all awesome but it gets better. Each member pays us $1000 to join (or $500 for limitied income people or $750 for farmers) the co-op then pools this equity together and then we invest in community scale, community owned renewable energy projects. Amazing!!! We are helping to build a community owned sustainable energy infrastructure that is sustainable beyond the end of petroleum.

Yes peak oil is upon us. It is debatable whether the peak is now or tomorrow or in a couple years or even ten but it’s here. Even if it’s all going to be ok for ten years that means we only have ten years to do something different. This is not me preaching this is me trying to make you aware that the time to do something besides rely on petroleum for everything around us is NOW. Check here for just a few of the things made of petroleum.

Peak oil is happening because we are using petroleum at an alarming rate. The use of petroleum (when burned) releases CO2 and other gases like NOX into the atmosphere. These are greenhouse gases. The excess gases cause the greenhouse effect. The greenhouse effect causes global warming. Global warming may or may not cause it to be snowing April 12th in Shelburne Falls, MA. But the average temperature of the earth has risen 0.74° C in the last hundred years. To give prospective this temperature change would normally occur over a 1000 yr period.

If we do nothing the temperature will continue to rise and scientist predict that when we hit a 2° C rise 25% of plant and animal life will face extinction. This is predicted to happen in the next 50 years if we continue to rapidly destroy the world.

There is no silver bullet plan. There is no one thing that can fix the problem. I wish i could tell you do this one thing and it will all be ok. I can’t!!! But I will say I believe every little bit counts. Every little action from changing to compact flourescent lightbulbs or walking instead of driving or putting a solar hot water system on your home will help. Every little bit counts on this one. Do not feel powerless. Do not feel weak. You can make a difference or you can go back to your daily life “business as usual” and be a part of the destruction of the planet we live on. It’s your decision.